Equestria Girls: Dark Duel Stories

After our classes had ended for the day, we waited outside the school in our usual hangout spot, next to the statue in the courtyard. We all scanned the crowd of students that flooded out the doors for Lux Aeterna, in hopes of getting him to hang out with us.

“Maybe he takes the bus, or maybe his parents come and pick him up?” Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.

Pinkie gasped audibly. “What if he went to hang out with someone else?!” she wailed.

I narrowed my eyes as my gaze traveled from student to student, searching for the quiet, white-haired boy. There was something that I couldn’t get off my mind; what was that key he wore? It was definitely no ordinary piece of jewelry, and the way he touched it seemed… odd; there wasn’t any other way I could describe it.

Just then, Fluttershy spoke up. “There he is!” she said eagerly, “he’s breaking from the crowd now!” I scanned the edges of the herd of students, and saw Lux walking down the path from school; I guess he lived close by.

“Lux! Hey!” I called, waving a friendly hand. Lux looked up and blushed, lowering his head as he quickened his pace. “Wait here, girls; I’ll be right back,” I said, and jogged to catch up with him.

“Hey Lux! What’s the rush?” I asked with a laugh as I walked beside him. The boy looked over at me nervously.

“Oh, hi, Sunset,” he said shyly. “I was just on my way home…”

I smiled gently. “Well, would you like to hang out with me and my friends at the park later? We could duel, if you’d like, or just talk,” I suggested.

The boy shuffled his feet nervously. “I don’t know,” he said slowly, “I’m not very sociable around new people…”

I gave him a comforting look. “Come on, you can trust us! Besides, you’re new here, so it’d be a good idea to make some friends, right?” I asked hopefully.

Lux seemed to think about this for a moment, looking uncertain at first, but a small smile eventually crossed his lips. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” he replied softly. “I have some chores to take care of at home, but I’d be happy to meet you all there later on.”

I nodded happily, slightly surprised at how quickly Lux changed his tune. “How does 5 o’clock sound?” I inquired.

Lux nodded. “Perfect,” he replied, and continued to walk down the path. “I’ll see you there!”

I nodded again and headed back over to the others, who were staring at me expectantly. “Well? What’d he say?” Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.

I took a deep breath. “He’ll be at the park at 5,” I said finally. “Now, he’s a little on the nervous side, so don’t crowd him too much when he shows up, alright?”

Pinkie Pie waved dismissively. “Come on, Sunset; this is me we’re talking about!” she said happily.

I rolled my eyes humorously. “That’s what I’m worried about, Pinkie,” I said with a slight laugh. “Seriously, don’t scare him off! Treat him like you would treat Fluttershy,” I said, gesturing to our equally-quiet friend. “In fact, I’m kinda hoping he chooses her as a dueling partner, since they’re so alike personality-wise,” I added.

Rarity nodded, standing beside me. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves, acting like such animals and arguing over who would be dueling the new boy first!” she said scoldingly.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You’re just as guilty as the rest of us, sugarcube,” she pointed out.

Rarity looked flustered for a moment. “Well, yes, but… I maintained a certain level of decency during the quarrel,” she said finally. “You three were completely uncivilized.”

Applejack stood up quickly. “I happen to recall being the only one on neutral ground in the whole affair; it was you, Rainbow, and Pinkie who were arguing left and right over who got to duel Lux first!”

I quickly stood between my two friends. “Girls, what did we agree on?” I said sternly, “We’re all connected by some kind of magic that gets weaker when we fight; either you just call it even, or duel each other to settle this.”

Rarity eyed Applejack calmly. “Well, I haven’t found anyone to duel today,” she said nonchalantly, “So I guess a quick game wouldn’t be a terrible idea.”

Applejack grinned as she reached into her backpack and strapped on a tan-and-brown duel disk. “We’ve still got to settle our score, after all; we’re evenly matched at this point,” she said confidently.

Rarity strapped on a snow-white duel disk of her own and drew a hand of cards. “You may have the first turn, darling,” she said politely, “but use it well; I have no intention of holding back!” she warned.

Applejack nodded as she drew six cards. “Alright, then. I’ll set two cards face-down in my spell/trap zone, and summon Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode!” she declared as the field before her flashed, and a muscular, white werewolf appeared in front of her. “Your move, sugarcube.”

Rarity nodded as she drew a card from her deck. “I activate the field spell, Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins!” she declared, placing a spell card into the field slot on her duel disk. The immediate area around the two duelists shifted and shimmered as a holographic projection of a coliseum appeared around them. A rainbow arched overhead, and the sun shined brightly through a cloudless sky.

“For my next move, I shall summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus,” she continued, placing a monster card onto her duel disk. There was a flash of light, and a white pegasus stood before her, with a blue, crystalline horn extending from its forehead. “Since I normal summoned Sapphire Pegasus, I can immediately place a Crystal beast from my hand, deck, or graveyard into my spell/trap zone as a spell card,” she explained, shuffling through her deck for an appropriate monster. “I’ll choose my Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat,” she said after a short pause, and placed her selected card into the spell/trap zone. There was another flash of light, and a light-pink cat took its place behind Rarity’s pegasus. “Next, I’ll equip Sapphire Pegasus with Crystal Release, increasing its attack by 800 points!” As she spoke, the pegasus reared back on it’s hind legs as a swarm of gemstones appeared around it, becoming absorbed into the creature’s body. “Sapphire Pegasus, attack her dreadful Warwolf!” Rarity commanded, and the monster charged forward, lancing Applejack’s Gene-Warped Warwolf with its horn. Applejack’s monster vanished, and her life point counter ticked down to 7400.

“That will be all for this turn, darling,” Rarity said proudly, and waited for her opponent to make her move.

Applejack smirked as she drew a card from her deck. “Well, let’s start by cutting that pony down to size,” she said, placing a spell card on her duel disk. “I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your equip spell!” she said triumphantly. The crystals that Sapphire Pegasus had absorbed moments before re-emerged from its body, and its strength seemed to fade slightly.

Rarity huffed. “Well, you may have weakened my monster, but by destroying that spell, you’ve allowed me to place yet another Crystal Beast in my spell/trap zone!” she said cleverly. “I choose Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!” There was a flash of light beside her Amethyst Cat, and a small, purple, feline creature appeared on the field, with a red orb at the end of its tail.

Applejack nodded. “That kitty isn’t going to help you much,” she said nonchalantly as she placed a monster card on her duel disk. “I summon Gemini Elf!” she cried out, and a pair of feminine elves appeared before her. “I’ll equip them with Axe of Despair, giving them an attack boost of 1000 points!” she added, placing a spell card behind the Gemini Elf card. The two elves were each suddenly holding a crude-looking axe in one hand, and the smirked wickedly. “Take out her pony, elves!” Applejack commanded, and the elves charged, swinging their axes at Rarity’s Sapphire Pegasus. The monster flailed its forehooves frantically as it vanished, and Rarity’s duel disk ticked down to 6900.

Rarity looked horrified at this display. “My pegasus!” she cried, but she shrugged off her negative reaction. “No matter; my monster will simply return as a spell card, just like all of my other Crystal Beasts,” she said, moving Sapphire Pegasus’s card to her spell/trap zone.

Applejack looked uncertain for a moment. “Alright, I’ll end my turn,” she said finally.

I looked over at Rainbow Dash as the duel beside us raged on. “Man, these two go at each other like wild dogs,” I said with a slight laugh.

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s how they work things out, I guess,” she said thoughtfully. “Hey, why are you so intent on getting that new kid to hang out with us? You got a crush on him or something?” she inquired teasingly.

I blushed hotly; not because I actually did have a crush on him, but because it was embarrassing to be asked a question like that. “No, it’s because…” I struggled to think of the words I wanted to say. “I don’t want to say it’s because I feel sorry for him, but I know what it’s like to not have any friends when arriving at a new school,” I said sadly, remembering back to my freshman year at Canterlot High, when I first left Equestria and arrived here in the human world.

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “Well, he seems harmless enough; it won’t hurt to give him a chance and see what he’s like under all that shyness.”

Pinkie suddenly popped up between us. “Maybe he’s as fun and bouncy as me!” she said hopefully.

Dash and I stared at each other with fearful expressions for a moment, before bursting with laughter. “Pinkie, just one of you is a little much for us to handle,” I said humorously. “Besides, if Lux was as… energetic as you are, I’m sure we wouldn’t have had to ask him to hang out with us; he would have asked us up front, or found some other friends to spend time with.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Like Sunset said before, he’s probably a lot like Fluttershy; super quiet and shy at first, but pretty chummy once he gets to know you!” she said, giving our pink-haired friend a friendly pat on the shoulder.

“He could be like any one of us once he gets comfortable with us,” Fluttershy pointed out. “He could be regal like Rarity, tough like Applejack, quiet like me, confident like Rainbow Dash, or wild like Pinkie Pie; he could even be smart and caring like you, Sunset Shimmer,” she added.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “She’s got a point,” she agreed. “It probably isn’t a good idea to judge the new kid based on how he acts now when we barely know him. Let’s just hope he isn’t quite as wild as Pinkie Pie, though, if that ends up being the case,” she said with a slight chuckle.

I nodded and looked back over at Applejack and Rarity’s duel, where things had heated up rather quickly; Rarity had summoned her signature monster, Rainbow Dragon, while Applejack had summoned her Grenosaurus Xyz monster. “How can that thing be standing up against Rarity’s dragon?” I asked, confused, as the white, serpentine dragon wrapped around Applejack’s dinosaur in an effort to crush it, but the beast simply grabbed the dragon in its jaws and tossed it aside. "Rainbow Dragon has 4000 attack points, while Grenosaurus only has 2000!"

“Applejack equipped it with Megamorph, doubling its attack power!” Pinkie explained eagerly. “This duel is getting good!”

Rarity spoke up from the battlefield. “You might as well give up now, Applejack; even if you defeat my Rainbow Dragon, I can summon it next turn, and your monster’s damaging effect will tip the scales just enough to make your Megamorph spell a burden!” she called out.

Applejack smirked. “You think I don’t have a backup plan?” she yelled back, “I’m activating my trap card, Ring of Destruction!” She flipped one of her facedown cards face-up, and Rainbow Dragon became surrounded by a stone ring that spewed fire all around it.

Rarity widened her eyes. “Are you crazy? she asked frantically, “You’ll just reduce both our life points to zero!”

Applejack responded by flipping another trap card face up. “Not if I use this!” she replied, “Barrel Behind The Door! Any damage I take from a card effect bounces right back to you!”

Just then, the ring attached to Rarity’s dragon exploded, taking the monster it was latched onto with it. The explosion barely touched Applejack, but Rarity was obscured by the expanding inferno. When the blaze cleared, Rarity was left standing alone, a look of surprise on her face.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” she murmured, and her life point meter bleeped as it hit zero. She walked over and reluctantly shook hands with Applejack. “You were lucky this time, darling; if you didn’t have those cards, or if I had some way to stop your trap card, I would have been the victor.”

Applejack smiled warmly. “Just keep telling yourself that, sugarcube,” she said teasingly. “I’ve got to say, though, you put up a decent fight.”

I glanced down at my watch. “Well, we’ve still got about an hour and a half until we’re supposed to meet Lux at the park; that’s plenty of time for a few more games. Why not make it a three-duel match?” I suggested. Applejack’s and Rarity’s faces lit up, and they quickly and eagerly reset their duel disks for a new game.

~-~-~-~-~

“Well, what did you expect me to do?” the black-haired boy asked his shadowy companion expectantly as he folded up his duel disk. The two students he had just defeated where nowhere in sight. “They saw me talking to you. Students like them may not have realized, but word travels fast in a high school; clever ears may have found out, and our entire plan would be ruined!”

The shadow growled sharply, and the boy sighed. “I suppose you have a point; I have a tendency to overreact at times,” he admitted. “What does it matter, though? You have two more souls to strengthen you, and I have prevented the spread of rumors that could lead to us being found out. You never know who in this school knows the truth about what you are,” he added, reaching into his jacket and lightly touching a black amulet, shaped like half of a broken key. “You feel it, don’t you? Your other half,” he asked gently, and the shadow purred. “It’s here, at this school; it all seems a little convenient, doesn’t it? We learn of a tournament offering incredibly powerful cards to the victor, that girl summons a monster as strong as Red Nova Dragon, and you feel the presence of the other half of the key, all in the same location?” he sighed shakily. “This is much more than mere coincidence. This is destiny,” he exclaimed happily.

As he walked down the path away from the school, he saw the red-haired girl watching two of her friends duel. She had broken her attention away from the duel for just a moment to scan the surrounding area, and her eyes met his. He quickly averted his gaze and quickened his pace down the concrete path. “No need to approach her just yet,” he murmured softly to his invisible companion. “We must wait for the opportune moment; then, her Red Nova Dragon will be mine, and her soul will be yours.”